Monday, January 11, 2010

Kolkata: Debapriya-Samanwaya

I recently stayed a week in Kolkata, in order to have some lessons with Pt Nayan Ghosh (more on that in the next post). I was lucky enough to be well looked after by singer Debapriya Adhikary and sitarist Samanwaya Sarkar, who form the Indian classical duo Debapriya-Samanwaya. I did some concertswith Deb-Sam when they were in Australia in October. They put me up in an apartment near Debapriya's place in Narendrapur, south Kolkata, where I stayed with their other guests, Thamo and Gowtem Sridharan, Sri Lankans from Canberra. 16 year old Gowtem is learning sitar with Samanwaya and looks to be getting an excellent foundation. He was practising for hours every day. I'm looking forward to seeing how he develops over the next few years.

Practising with Debapriya Adhikary

Practising with Samanwaya Sarkar

My flatmates in Narendrapur, Thamo Sridharan and his son Gowtem, from Canberra.